During just the first six weeks of his second term, Donald Trump has signed a slew of executive orders aimed at reshaping the US government and the global order.

Ukraine - Trump paused US military aid to Ukraine soon after engaging in a public spat with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office. His decision is an abrupt departure from Washington’s longstanding support for Kyiv.

Tariffs - The Trump administration on Tuesday began levying a 25% tax on all imports from Mexico and Canada, and a 20% tax on goods from China, saying they will boost the US economy. Trump has imposed tariffs or threatened to impose them in order to further US interests.

Mass firings - Trump has charged a White House team headed by billionaire Elon Musk known as Doge (which stands for Department of Government Efficiency) with slashing government spending and hunting down inefficiencies. This has mainly resulted in firing thousands of federal workers, and also the freezing of some grants and aid.

Deportations - Trump has begun acting on his campaign pledge to severely curtail immigration, paving the way for a widespread effort to crack down on undocumented migrants in the US. His actions include the removal of hundreds of people from the United States on military aircrafts.

Image source, Getty Images

While some Democrats are skipping Trump's speech, others are instead inviting federal workers who have been among the thousands fired by the Trump administration.

According to the BBC's US partner CBS News, external, at least a dozen former workers have been invited by Democrats - a number of those military veterans.

One of the invited former employees, James Diaz, is a disabled veteran who was laid off last month from the Internal Revenue Service, says: "I've given my life to this country, and to be laid off without warning or respect is disheartening."

"I understand the need to trim the fat, but you can't treat people this way."

For background: Roughly a third (30%) of federal workers have served in the US military.

A number of Democrats from both chambers of Congress are planning on skipping Trump's address this evening in protest.

Senator Martin Heinrich says he will "start attending when [Trump] starts following the law".

Washington state's Senator Patty Murray, who has become a leading critic of Trump, says she will instead be "speaking with constituents" who have been fired as part of sweeping federal job cuts by the Trump administration.

In the other chamber, Representative Don Beyer accuses Trump of showing "total contempt and disregard" for Congress, and says the President's work in office "is not normal, it is not acceptable, and I won't be attending".

On the party's left wing, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez says she will be posting on social media during the speech instead, and livestreaming on Instagram afterwards.

Others who have confirmed they won't be attending include Representatives Becca Balint, Diana DeGette, Gerry Connolly and Kweisi Mfume.

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Image source, Reuters

Senator Elissa Slotkin has been tapped by the Democrats to deliver the rebuttal to Trump’s address.

Slotkin is a first term senator from Michigan who took office for the first time in January, and has been described as a “rising star” in the party Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.

"I'm looking forward to speaking directly to the American people next week," Slotkin says in a statement.

"The public expects leaders to level with them on what's actually happening in our country."

Slotkin was in graduate school in New York during the 9/11 attacks, and says on her website that that experience drove her towards a career in national security.

She worked as a Middle East analyst for the CIA in Iraq, and served in national security roles at the White House and Pentagon under Presidents Bush and Obama.

Slotkin first ran for Congress in 2018, flipping a long-time Republican-leaning district as part of the Democrat midterm wave during Trump's first term.

You can read more about the senator here: Who is Elissa Slotkin, the Democrat chosen to rebut Trump's speech?

Rachel Looker
Reporting from Capitol Hill

Hello from Capitol Hill where it is an unusually warm March day.

I'm inside the US Capitol where President Donald Trump will soon deliver his speech before a joint session of Congress. This is the first time Trump will address Congress since he won back the White House in November.

I noticed heightened security as I entered the building, with police barricades and fences both around the Capitol and its surrounding areas.

The press gallery on the House side - the chamber where Trump will deliver his speech - is packed with reporters with no desks to spare.

We're expecting a lengthy speech. Trump's previous addresses before Congress have lasted for well over an hour.

I'll be your eyes and ears in the chamber - watching who claps, who boos and who doesn't show up. Stick with us for more updates.

Image source, Getty Images

Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from the White House

One of tonight's traditions is the First Lady inviting special guests to sit with her while the President speaks. These guests will reflect many of the themes President Trump will address in his speech.

Melania Trump's extensive guest list for the evening includes “everyday Americans" from various walks of life, according to the White House. They also represent some of the policy changes Trump has already made while in office less than two months.

Here are some of the expected attendees:

The family of Corey Comperatore, a firefighter who was shot and killed during a Trump campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on 13 July.

Marc Fogel, an American teacher who was imprisoned in Russia on drug charges before being released in February.

Peyton McNabb, a former high school athlete who suffered a traumatic brain injury in a 2022 volleyball match against a transgender opponent.

Allyson and Lauren Phillips, the mother and sister of Laken Riley, a Georgia nursing student murdered last year by a Venezuelan man.

Image source, Getty Images

The State of the Union is the annual address that the President delivers to a joint session of Congress that reviews the current state of the nation by looking back over the last year, typically in January or February.

But this speech is not called a State of the Union during the president's first year, even though it serves roughly the same purpose.

Newly elected presidents who have only been in office for a couple of months are not considered up to speed enough to give the wider look on how the entire country has fared for the year. Instead, they typically are invited to give a joint address that looks forward and sets the tone for their legislative agenda.

Trump has already given State of the Union addresses in his first term. Much has changed since he last stood before both chambers in February 2020, which was shortly before the Covid pandemic swept through the country and shortly after he was impeached the first time (he was acquitted in the Senate and remained in office).

It is mostly remembered for then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, dramatically tearing up a copy of his speech when he was through.

Image source, Getty

The most powerful people in government will be present during Trump’s speech.

The president will be flanked by the House Speaker Mike Johnson and Vice-President JD Vance, who doubles as the ceremonial president of the Senate.

They will be joined by lawmakers from both the House of Representatives and the Senate. Billionaire Elon Musk will also be present, the BBC’s US partner CBS News has confirmed.

The head of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency - better known as Doge - has rewired how Washington works over the past few weeks, leading to thousands of firings from federal agencies.

Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from the White House

We still haven’t seen any excerpts of tonight’s speech, but we do have a taste of what the speech will be about.

Earlier, the White House provided me a list of four broad parts to the speech, which Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said will be "must-see TV".

Broadly, it will focus on "American renewal", the White House says.

Part one: Trump will run through his first month in office and review what the White House has termed an "extraordinarily successful" period, both in the US and overseas.

Part two: This portion of the speech will focus on the economy, Trump’s efforts to combat inflation and what the White House says was an "economic mess" left by Joe Biden.

Part three: In the third part of the speech, Trump will urge Congress to pass more funding for deportations and to continue building a wall at the US-Mexico border.

Part four: The last part of Trump's remarks will focus on "his plans to restore peace around the world".

Donald Trump is due to give a joint address to both houses of Congress tonight.

His speech is expected to start at 21:00 EST (02:00 GMT), and will be held in the chamber of the House of Representatives at the Capitol in Washington DC.

Trump's last speech to Congress in 2017 lasted over an hour.

House Speaker Mike Johnson invited Trump to deliver the address in a letter sent in late January.

"TOMORROW NIGHT WILL BE BIG. I WILL TELL IT LIKE IT IS!," Trump wrote on social media on Monday.